


The Time for Love

by champagne_cake



Category: Kuroshitsuji : The Most Beautiful DEATH in the World - Iwasaki/Mori/Mari
Genre: Coming Out, M/M, Pining, mentor slingby and junior humphries, personal discovery, romantic awakening
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:35:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28446999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/champagne_cake/pseuds/champagne_cake
Summary: Alan comes to find himself, and speak his own language of love.
Relationships: Alan Humphries/Eric Slingby
Kudos: 3





	The Time for Love

“You can’t rush something you want to last forever."

It’s got to be one of the most cliche lines in the book. Heck, Alan first saw it as a sticker on a classmate’s laptop back in his academy days, and curious, took to the Internet to look up the source. But all it gave were links to images representing the same seemingly anonymous quote on personal inspiration blogs and stickers expressing the same sentiment. Surely those words must touch many individuals.

 _Does love truly last forever?_ Alan pondered in his dorm that same night, lying atop his bed. Unless the two die together, fingers entwined in one final pact, one will always be left all on their own. _We are born alone, and alone we will always die._

Light thunder crackled outside as the rain pattered heavier on the building, and Alan closed his eyes.

A memory.

It was the mid-1700s. Golden-hazel eyes — his _human_ eyes — stared inquisitively through the mirror.

_Who am I? What do I want to be?_

Hands drawn at the sides of his face, embracing the sides of his cheekbones, this staring contest had begun to become more of a regular occurrence as his college schoolmates had started on their own paths to becoming dashing, fantastic men in medicine, engineering, entrepreneurship…

…but Alan was merely satisfied with his books, theatre, and the flowers dotting every corner of the university’s private gardens. He maintained good marks throughout his education, but everyone knows handing in assignments on time and answering every question is the _easy_ part. Building a _career_ involved speaking with his professors, building professional relationships, and _lots_ of socializing — much more than simply being a _student_.

Sadly, this was quite the roadblock in quiet, bookish Alan’s way.

_Why can’t you be like them? Why can’t you do as all your peers do?_

Silent whispers bore through the reflection, presented as facetious accusations from a party that didn’t exist. Alan voiced them directly, hoping something — anything — could provide the answers.

_Why can’t I speak to women at parties? Why does it hurt me so when my schoolmates grow slowly busier with their lives, and write back less and less frequently?_

_…Why don’t I understand love?_

It was a strange language, and not one he could speak or understand well in his human life. Looking back, (and reapers don’t often do, out of necessity for the pure indifference to human life needed to properly carry out their jobs) there were absolutely times he’d been doted on — dare he say _flirted with_ — by a few women (and men) here are there, but half the time, Alan was merely surprised someone found him a suitable conversational partner at all.

He’d missed the signs, because he didn’t know yet what he was looking for — in the ballroom, the classroom, nor in life.


End file.
